50 years later, JFK's call to action lives on

As the youngest man to be elected President of the United States, John F. Kennedy made history before he actually took office. An assassin's bullet - fired 50 years ago today - sealed Kennedy's place in history as the last American president to be killed while serving in office, but his legacy went far beyond that tragic event.

His greatest legacy, to many, is his pushing of the space program. His commitment to put a man on the moon pushed the country to get it done, which happened six years after his death. "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," he said. He might not have envisioned the amazing feats the space program has achieved today, but his dream set the events in action.

A hallmark of Kennedy's influence on social issues was his June 1963 speech to the nation, in which he called upon all Americans to denounce racism. That speech, given just months before he died, led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, pushed through Congress.

As a Navy veteran, Kennedy also helped to form the Navy SEALs and revive the U.S. Special Forces unit as part of the situation in Southeast Asia.

His death forever changed the way America - and, consequently, the world - viewed the news. The Kennedy assassination was one of the first significant news stories to be covered as a major TV event, as for 70 consecutive hours networks cut away from regularly scheduled programing - a feat not repeated until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

However, Kennedy's repeated calls to think of others before yourself was his greatest legacy. "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for you country" is a famous line in a famous speech, but it's really more than that.

It's a call to action that rings true today.

Fifty years have passed since the shots rang out and a popular president was killed. On this day, we remember the life Kennedy lived and the ideas he birthed that helped a nation achieve greatness.

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50 years later, JFK's call to action lives on

As the youngest man to be elected President of the United States, John F. Kennedy made history before he actually took office. An assassin's bullet - fired 50 years ago today - sealed Kennedy's place